"As a result of productivity gains and automation, HP expects to eliminate roughly 9,000 positions over a multiyear period to reinvest for further growth and to increase shareholder value," the Palo Alto, California-based company said.

The company plans to take a charge of about $1bn over the next several years for the technology upgrade, enabling clients "to run their businesses faster and more efficiently". It will also add 6,000 new positions as it invests in more advanced centres and expands its global operations, shrinking its workforce by a net 3,000 jobs.

"Once completed, this transformation is expected to generate annualized gross savings of approximately one billion dollars and net savings after reinvestment in a range between $500m and $700m," it said.

The US information technology giant did not give a specific timeframe for the shift to fully automated data centers or say where jobs would be eliminated.

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Last month the company posted better-than-expected quarterly results as technology spending revived across all markets. HP reported net profit of $2.2bn compared with $1.7bn in the same quarter a year ago.